Metrobank - SD Boxes

[dicker]

Hi All

I suspect some of us have an SD box with Metrobank.

The Metrobank news over the last  two weeks coupled with their share price performance has been a bit worrying. 

Today, I closed my SD box at Metrobank and moved to another provider as a precaution.  The gent in the branch said there had been quite a few people doing the same….

Best

Dicker

[MickB]

5 minutes ago, dicker said:

Hi All

I suspect some of us have an SD box with Metrobank.

The Metrobank news over the last  two weeks coupled with their share price performance has been a bit worrying. 

Today, I closed my SD box at Metrobank and moved to another provider as a precaution.  The gent in the branch said there had been quite a few people doing the same….

Best

Dicker

Someone I work with has a substantial gold coin collection in one of their branches sd boxes. He'll probably be worried as well.

[BackyardBullion]

I did the same thing a month ago when they had their shareholder wobble.

Closed my savings account with them also.

[dicker]

Banks do this type of risk management all the time - moving assets from less secure banks to more secure banks.

Just good housekeeping in my view.

Plus Metro are not going to open at weekends.  

[katyc]

I use an independent company as I'm a paranoid android when it comes to banks and trusting them. Although the company I use only has two vaults (Manchester and Leeds). I use the Leeds one for convenience, but the Manchester branch has been going 100 years and have never had a break in which helps me sleep at night.

[Spyder]

Metro is in big trouble. They are in talks to sell their mortgage book to barclays. Once a few start to panic it will  become a stampede like Northern Rock and before you know it, the bank be needing to do a capital raise to keep going.  It will be death spiral financing. They are already making massive redundancy.

Edited December 2, 2023 by Spyder

[Petra]

2 hours ago, katyc said:

I use an independent company as I'm a paranoid android when it comes to banks and trusting them. Although the company I use only has two vaults (Manchester and Leeds). I use the Leeds one for convenience, but the Manchester branch has been going 100 years and have never had a break in which helps me sleep at night.

ooh! We may pass likes ships in the night!🤔😮😁

[dicker]

1 hour ago, Spyder said:

Metro is in big trouble. They are in talks to sell their mortgage book to barclays. Once a few start to panic it will  become a stampede like Northern Rock and before you know it, the bank be needing to do a capital raise to keep going.  It will be death spiral financing. They are already making massive redundancy.

I worked in IB for 20 years.  Cutting the bottom 10 to 15 percent of bottom performing employees is entirely normal.

I have my suspicions around MB’s issues but hey ho.

[pricha]

I never fancied having anything to do with Metro from the off , when a big fancy bank opened in our town. When bank branches are closing all over the country the opening hours of Metro bank made no sense . I'd hate to think of the consequences of them going bust and having a safe deposit box with them i decided my sock draw was fine.  

Edited December 2, 2023 by pricha

[dicker]

13 minutes ago, pricha said:

I never fancied having anything to do with Metro from the off , when a big fancy bank opened in our town. When bank branches are closing all over the country the opening hours of Metro bank made no sense . I'd hate to think of the consequences of them going bust and having a safe deposit box with them i decided my sock draw was fine.  

Exactly.  I think gaining access if a bank went bankrupt would be significantly hard.  Hence bailing out.

In the 80’s it was perfectly possible to put a box in the vault of most high street banks for free if you were a decent customer.  Now, definitely not.  How times have changed.  

[MrStacker]

WISE CHOICE.

Of all the UK high street banks that look vulnerable to me it is Metro Bank. Especially with their recent finanical troubles that have been papered over. When they first opened around me I said to myself "this looks a bit dodge" lol

@dickerAlways go with your gut feeling.

[AuricGoldfinger]

@dicker i could have wrote the exact same post word for word. Closed mine last weekend.

The staff are usually very attentive but this time i was stood around for ages even though there was about 10 staff available. Seemed to be a few visiting their SDB - maybe to close.

Its a shame as i like what metro were trying to do but its a dying model. I absolutely hate how banks are now. I paid some cash in to Santander at the weekend and had to wait ages. I was told “you know you can pay this into the machine dont you” i said yes i do but don’t be to keen to replace your job with a machine. 
 

its like when you go into a co op or tesco local, no staff to be seen at the tills and they look at you gone out when you want to be served by a person. Do they not realise the eagerness for a machine to do their job means that soon they won’t have one.

[Abyss]

18 hours ago, katyc said:

I use an independent company as I'm a paranoid android when it comes to banks and trusting them. Although the company I use only has two vaults (Manchester and Leeds). I use the Leeds one for convenience, but the Manchester branch has been going 100 years and have never had a break in which helps me sleep at night.

Same here. I use the Manchester branch and it has survived two world wars. Shame they only have two branches in Manchester/Leeds they could easily expand into other areas. My dad used them when he moved to Manchester in 1992 to initially store gold jewellery and subsequently when he passed away I inherited the contents and used them in addition to store my gold collection. As a family we have utilised this company to store our physical wealth for 31 years......

https://www.stjames-safedeposit.com/

[katyc]

17 minutes ago, Abyss said:

Same here. I use the Manchester branch and it has survived two world wars. Shame they only have two branches in Manchester/Leeds they could easily expand into other areas. My dad used them when he moved to Manchester in 1992 to initially store gold jewellery and subsequently when he passed away I inherited the contents and used them in addition to store my gold collection. As a family we have utilised this company to store our physical wealth for 31 years......

https://www.stjames-safedeposit.com/

I did ask about more branches recently and they said it is quite rare they get that option (since they require old bank vaults - which need to be the right type, size etc), so I guess not often the opportunity arises.

You'd think with all these banks closing down there would be plenty of opportunity, but the vast majority don't have "proper" vaults. I'm sure there's plenty out there still from the old days (but being used as something else).

I think they're a brilliant company and an absolute god send.

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by katyc

[Petra]

13 minutes ago, katyc said:

I did ask about more branches recently and they said it is quite rare they get that option (since they require old bank vaults - which need to be the right type, size etc), so I guess not often the opportunity arises.

You'd think with all these banks closing down there would be plenty of opportunity, but the vast majority don't have "proper" vaults. I'm sure there's plenty out there still from the old days (but being used as something else).

I think they're a brilliant company and an absolute god send.

 

Quite enjoy a day out to the vault. Nice friendly people there

[AaaGee]

How far do people travel to their SD boxes? The nearest one to me looks like youd get mugged for a decent pair of trainers outside the building. And double yellows on the main road outside.

2nd nearest is a MetroBank (with a non functioning website).

Edited December 3, 2023 by AaaGee
Spelling

[katyc]

11 minutes ago, AaaGee said:

How far do people travel to their SD boxes? The nearest one to me looks like youd get mugged for a decent pair of trainers outside the building. And double yellows on the main road outside.

2nd nearest is a MetroBank (with a non functioning website).

Nearly 20 miles. I often Uber there so I can arrive practically outside the door and not have to faff with parking (I aim to Uber when it's quiet - and not raining - so the cost is usually not much more than £30).

I keep business items and paperwork there too so can expense some trips. It's very rare I need to go.

When I go it becomes a nice little day out too like @Petra (if I'm not removing items from the SD box - which I rarely need to - and I am just dropping off), hence lunch and a bit of shopping if my schedule permits, then train back (maybe a little tipsy at that point 😆).

Edited December 3, 2023 by katyc

[Petra]

Just a short train trip followed by a very short walk😮bit of an afternoon out!

[AuricGoldfinger]

2 hours ago, AaaGee said:

How far do people travel to their SD boxes? The nearest one to me looks like youd get mugged for a decent pair of trainers outside the building. And double yellows on the main road outside.

2nd nearest is a MetroBank (with a non functioning website).

This is/was the appeal of a metrobank as a busy high street is like hiding in plain sight. Many many other SDB are in shady areas and it’s pretty obvious what they are.

The box can be safe as houses but your the real target if people clock you going in or out.

[katyc]

1 minute ago, AuricGoldfinger said:

This is/was the appeal of a metrobank as a busy high street is like hiding in plain sight. Many many other SDB are in shady areas and it’s pretty obvious what they are.

The box can be safe as houses but your the real target if people clock you going in or out.

Yes, I can't deny that I really don't like that part. The Leeds centrally located though (not sure about the Manchester once)

[Petra]

No doubt locations limited by past use of building .. such as a previous bank strong room. Unfortunately, as time passes some of those locations are no longer in prime real estate areas🤔⛄️

[Abyss]

5 hours ago, AaaGee said:

How far do people travel to their SD boxes? The nearest one to me looks like youd get mugged for a decent pair of trainers outside the building. And double yellows on the main road outside.

2nd nearest is a MetroBank (with a non functioning website).

10 minutes by car to the train station, 20 minutes by train to Manchester Piccadilly, plus another 15 minutes brisk walk or 40 minutes by car paying for NCP car parking. I am glad it takes some effort to visit the SD box otherwise you could view it as a piggy bank that you could dip into every so often rather than a permanent safe storage location holding generation wealth in.....

Unsure about London, but Manchester is fairly safe during daylight hours.

[Chrisplym]

The problem with moving away from Metro Bank is that there are no alternatives unless you live in a large city. 

[Petra]

Got to be somewhere not too far for you?🤔⛄️

[Chrisplym]

Not as far as I am aware and the further you go the more hassle retrieving and storing. Any suggestions gladly accepted.